This invention relates to anti-theft devices for automobiles and other motor vehicles that have a gas pedal and are most relevant to such anti-theft devices that immobilize and lock the accelerator pedal of the vehicle. Secondarily, the present invention relates to an anti-theft device that immobilizes the clutch pedal of a motor vehicle having a standard transmission.
Theft of motor vehicles has been well recognized for a long time as a serious problem. There has been a long felt need to prevent such theft. Many attempts have been made to eliminate or at least reduce the occurrence of such theft and they are well known. The following patents are in the area of anti-theft pedal locking devices: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,876,865 to Trinidad et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,209 to Russell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,326 to Winters, U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,095 to Adamski, U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,131 to Davis, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,495,700 and 1,792,990 to W. W. La Van Way, U.S. Pat. No. 1,634,583 to Kissinger, U.S. Pat. No. 1,449,769 to Martel, U.S. Pat. No. 1,318,443 to Gimperling, U.S. Pat. No. 1,271,941 to Reiser and U.S. Pat. No. 1,193,202 to Swanson.
Although U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,209 to Russell claims to be applicable to existing automobiles through retrofitting, it requires the device to hingably attached to the floor of the automobile. This involves substantial work and is not easy to apply. The average car user will not drill a hole in the floor of his car or even have a mechanic do so. Moreover, doing so is much more complicated than slipping on a portable device around the pedal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,326 to Winters is a brake and clutch lock assembly including a base and it relies on a first end of the base being in contact with the vehicular floor. It is not designed for accelerator pedals but for brakes or clutch pedals. Furthermore, even for clutch pedals, it can be gotten around by a slight rubbing away or digging out of the floor of the vehicle. Finally, it is not clear how tightly it locks or what range of vehicles it can be applied to since the height of the first and second wall elements below the apertures must correspond perfectly to the height of the pedal arm for it to work properly.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,634,583 to Kissinger is limited to the standard transmission automobiles of the type having a foot brake, a reversing gear pedal and clutch pedal in linear formation.
While there are numerous and varied ways to accomplish the locking of the accelerator or clutch pedal, it is necessary that the device be effective in locking such pedal securely, be easy to apply and remove, versatile enough to be usable on both standard and automatic transmission motor vehicles and be relatively inexpensive and be of simple construction and easy to manufacture. None of the above patents have all of these characteristics.
The present invention meets all of the above needs and is an anti-theft device that is effective in locking the pedal to block thieves, is versatile and very easy to use and is of simple construction and easy to manufacture.